49ers’ George Kittle says he plans to return Sunday vs. Falcons
“Kittle, speaking to the media Thursday for the first time since the injury, said he knew something was wrong immediately and that the injury was actually a “full tear” of his hamstring.
“I just felt like a rubber band snapped in my hamstring,” Kittle said. “I was like, ‘Ah, I’ve just got to go to the locker room after that one.’”
According to Kittle, he got a bit lucky with where the tear in his hamstring was, as it did not completely tear away from the bone. Because of that, Kittle’s recovery time was significantly less than the three to six months it can take for a more severe tear to heal.“
Could 49ers’ Fred Warner return this season? John Lynch, surgeon don’t dismiss it (paywall)
“Dr. Kenneth Jung, a foot and ankle surgeon who is a consultant to the Los Angeles Rams, didn’t dismiss the idea that Warner could return this season, but termed it “doubtful.” Jung noted the timeline for such an injury is three to six months, but the best-case scenario requires, among other factors, that damage is limited to bones and ligaments.
He said the force in a fracture-dislocation can often result in cartilage damage, which can extend the timeline well beyond three months. Cartilage, which is smooth material that covers the end of the bones within the ankle joints, takes longer to heal because it lacks a blood supply. Jung said cartilage damage might not have been detected until Warner’s surgery.
“Sometimes with these dislocations the bones clearly come out of joint and so you can have injuries to cartilage that may not get picked up on an X-ray,” said Jung, who works at Cedars-Sinai Orthopaedics in Los Angeles. “Oftentimes you’ll assess it with an MRI or with arthroscopy at the time of surgery.”
Whenever Warner returns, Jung said there is a “very good” chance Warner will come back as the same player he was before his injury. He doesn’t expect that his return will be in mid-January, about three months removed from surgery, but he’s not ruling it out.
“It’s kind of hard to predict unless they give a report on what they actually end up finding in surgery,” Jung said. “But, in general, you would expect bone to take six to eight weeks to heal, and ligaments probably around the same amount of time. And that just would get him to the point where he’s able to resume light training and progressing back.”
49ers pass the ‘Mike’ to Tatum Bethune, who will do his best Fred Warner impression (paywall)
“The 49ers mostly play a 4-2-5 defense, meaning they typically field two linebackers, a middle Mike and a weak-side Will, occasionally joined by a strong-side Sam linebacker on the tight end side. The Mike wears the green dot with a radio transmission in his helmet. The coordinator delivers the call. The Mike relays it to the 10 other players on defense. And the Mike is also responsible for any pre-snap audibles or assignment checks in response to offensive motions or shifts.
“The difficult part about Mike linebacker, you just always have to keep talking and being aware of what’s going on and making sure everybody’s on the same page,” Bethune said. “At Will, sometimes you really don’t — you just make sure you do your job. … I call (Mike) a firefighter, man, if it’s a fire, you got to go put it out.”
In essence, the Mike needs to tell everyone else what to do up to the point the ball is snapped. And then do his job.
“It’s like playing quarterback on defense,” Sam linebacker Luke Gifford said.
During game week, the starter at Mike takes nearly all the live reps at practice, leaving the backup to prepare almost exclusively via mental reps and film study. Bethune did not have much experience as it was.“
49ers’ John Lynch sounds less eager to make trades after losing Fred Warner (paywall)
““It’s time to go play. And we’ve got plenty in this team to go compete and go win football games,” Lynch said on KNBR. “And you do your due diligence — you put the work in. Are there variables that change from week to week? Absolutely, there are. And we’ll just leave it at that.”
Pass-happy 49ers need George Kittle, Brock Purdy, with defensive leaders on crutches (paywall)
“Flanked by Puni and Colby, center Jake Brendel has also been inconsistent in creating space for running back Christian McCaffrey to get through. The Buccaneers proved too tough on Sunday, but the Falcons rank only 27th in yards per carry allowed, at 4.8. So, there is hope for the 49ers to top 83 yards rushing for the first time since the opener.
“When I watch the film, I see that there’s been many, many plays that we’re just one block away from springing a big one,” Juszczyk said. “I think we’ve all been guilty of just maybe not sustaining that block for that extra half a second that can really get the runner to pop.
“But it’s been there, and it’s just a matter of time before it’s going to start going.”
The pass blocking was also not good against the Buccaneers, as Jones was sacked six times and hit a total of 10 times. The Falcons’ pass rush is coming off a big win over the Buffalo Bills, where they sacked Josh Allen twice, hit him six times and picked him off twice.
We’ll see how Purdy fares in practice Thursday and Friday, but his mobility would be welcome on Sunday. Jones has been terrific in winning three of his four starts, but he wasn’t going to make a ton of plays outside of the pocket even before he aggravated a knee injury from the preseason and started wearing a brace.“
Robert Saleh, Klay Kubiak, Mac Jones preview 49ers-Falcons Week 7 matchup
“Here’s everything they said.”
What George Kittle believes is root cause of 49ers’ 2025 run-game struggles
“”I would say a couple things. I think the D-lines and the defensive coordinators we’ve been facing are pretty good,” Kittle told reporters after practice Thursday. “Like, I think Seattle has an incredible D-line. I think a lot of team’s we’re playing have better D-lines than I think preseason schedules told people. I still think that we’re trying to find our rhythm again.
“Whether it’s, new tight ends are playing with offensive tackles they haven’t played with before. We have a young guy on the inside, some miscommunication stuff. It’s an overall group thing. Some plays there are some guys that are messing up, other plays there are other guys that are messing up, sometimes they just have a better play called than we do. So overall, it’s everybody. Offensive line, running backs, fullbacks, tight ends, wide receivers, coaching calling plays.”
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